ERIE, PA: The Pitt-Greensburg baseball team fell by identical 2-0 scores to the second place Lions of Penn State Behrend.
After dropping the road doubleheader, the Bobcats fall to 4-6 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and 13-14-1 on the year. Penn State Behrend improves to 8-3 in conference play and 17-7 overall.
Game 1:Despite outhitting the Lions 6-3, Pitt-Greensburg would struggle to bring in a run in Saturday's opening game.
Anthony Bozzuto (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) would stand at third with two outs on two separate occasions but the Bobcats would fail to bring him in.
After four and a half scoreless innings, Behrend would get on the board with a single run in the bottom of the fifth. They'd add another in the sixth to bring us to the 2-0 final.
Chad Jacob (Bridgeville, PA, Chartiers Valley), Bozzuto, and
Matt Moyer (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) would make up the offense for UPG after each finished with 2-3 performances.
Brandon Rowland (Greensburg, PA, Greensburg Salem) (3-3) pitched well in the loss. He'd hold the Lion lineup to two runs on just three hits while picking up five strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
Zach Fodor (West Mifflin, PA, West Mifflin) took the mound in the sixth, striking out one and allowing no hits while recording the final two outs of the inning.
Game 2:Once again, the Bobcats would get a solid performance on the mound, this time from senior starter
Cory Deighan (Bethel Park, PA, Seton-La Salle). After allowing two first inning runs, he'd settle in to hold the Lion lineup scoreless over 7.2 innings but not get the run support he'd need. Deighan falls to 1-4 after allowing two runs on nine hits while striking out three.
Adam Dodson (Bethel Park, PA, Bethel Park) would record the final out of the eighth after checking in for a short relief stint.
Pitt-Greensburg was held to four hits in the nightcap with
Greg Lynn (Ellwood City, PA, Ellwood City),
Mike Maleski (Pittsburgh, PA, Plum),
Dylan Pounds (Houston, PA, Chartiers-Houston) and
Tyler Lilja (Greensburg, PA, Hempfield) picking them up. Back to back singles by Pounds and Lilja in the eighth would give the Bobcats some hope, but not materialize into the runs they needed.
The Bobcats won't have much time to rest as they travel back to Greensburg, Pa for an important AMCC doubleheader with Hilbert College tomorrow at 12:00pm.
